Update January 6, 2025: In a new statement to 9to5Mac, Apple says:
Siri has been engineered to protect user privacy from the beginning. Siri data has never been used to build marketing profiles and it has never been sold to anyone for any purpose. Apple settled this case to avoid additional litigation so we can move forward from concerns about third-party grading that we already addressed in 2019. We use Siri data to improve Siri, and we are constantly developing technologies to make Siri even more private.
Find more details in our new story on the subject.
Over five years ago, Apple was hit with a lawsuit over ‘unlawful and intentional recording’ of Siri interactions. Now finally, the case is coming to an end, with Apple agreeing to pay $95 million in a settlement.
Apple’s settlement will pay users up to $20 per Siri device impacted
Apple’s years-long legal battle over Siri recordings is ending in a settlement, Reuters reports. The U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White still has to approve the settlement in Oakland, California federal court, but it was submitted with Apple’s agreement Tuesday night.
Plaintiffs in the 2019 lawsuit alleged that Apple recorded conversations without their consent, and those conversations were shared with third-party services which led to targeted ads. All of this was related to the ‘Hey Siri’ voice activation feature.
Now, users stand to benefit from the settlement payout.
Jonathan Stempel writes for Reuters:
Class members, estimated in the tens of millions, may receive up to $20 per Siri-enabled device, such as iPhones and Apple Watches.
Apple denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.
The initial dust-up around the lawsuit and related Siri reporting back in 2019 led to several changes from Apple, including:
- an internal review on Siri-related practices, including the use of contractors
- new permission prompts for Siri audio recording on Apple devices
- and a privacy system you’re likely well acquainted with: ’Ask App Not to Track’
Apple’s implemented changes over the years nonetheless have not constituted an admission of guilt, and today’s settlement doesn’t either.
That said, the company appears to have found today’s settlement the best case scenario available for them. I didn’t check the math on this, but Reuters notes that the $95 million settlement equals “about nine hours of profit for Apple.”
No details are available yet on how to claim your stake of the payout, but we’ll keep you posted as the settlement gets finalized and those logistics are outlined.
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